Maia Song Contest 10

The Maia Song Contest 10 was the tenth edition of the Maia Song Contest. It was hosted in Izola following their win in the ninth edition with their song Samaritan by ionnalee.

Location
IZT and the MBU announced the conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest.


 * The host city had to be near a major airport.
 * The venue must be available for the rehearsal period before the contest and one week after the conclusion of the contest
 * The venue must not be open-air, but an air-conditioned building with a capacity of at least 10,000 and a minimum ceiling height of 15 metres (49 ft), insulated for sound and light.
 * The green room must be located as close to the arena as possible (or within it), with a capacity of 300.

Host venue

Semi Final 1
Playlist available here. Recap available here

Arkaystia, Izola and Perlamuhay voted in this semi-final.

A full scoreboard can be found here.

Semi Final 2
Playlist available here. Recap available here.

Emionia and Loafousia voted in this semi-final.

A full scoreboard can be found here.

Grand Final
Playlist available here. Recap available here.

A full scoreboard can be found here.

Voting and spokespersons

 * Mille Dinesen & Titus Andromedon
 * Nikki Grahame
 * Georgina Gordon
 * Dorinda Medley
 * Shura (Gloom representative in the ninth edition)
 * Failed to show up, broadcast failure.
 * Sandra Bullock and Blaire White
 * Edin Jusuframic
 * Failed to show up, broadcast failure.
 * Sandra Bullock and Blaire White
 * Edin Jusuframic
 * Failed to show up, broadcast failure.
 * Sandra Bullock and Blaire White
 * Edin Jusuframic
 * Edin Jusuframic


 * Florrie (Izol representative in the first edition)
 * John Krasinski
 * King Francisco I
 * Natasha Negovanlis
 * Léa Castel (Lianistani representative in the fourth edition & eighth edition)
 * Elisabet Sundell
 * Madame Flurrie
 * Evangeline Lilly
 * Heidi Montag
 * Ayana Taketatsu (Melotaku Matsuri 5 runner-up)
 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson and HAIM (Papavertellan representative in the sixth edition)
 * Christine Sydelko
 * Ayana Taketatsu (Melotaku Matsuri 5 runner-up)
 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson and HAIM (Papavertellan representative in the sixth edition)
 * Christine Sydelko


 * Kesha
 * Vicky Tweedy
 * Natalie Horler
 * Sad Broccoli
 * Polyna (Samavian representative in the ninth edition)
 * Pablo López (Vanian representative in the ninth edition)
 * Laleh (Temekylopian representative in the first edition)
 * Song Joong-ki
 * Simone Simons (Valerian representative in the Maia Song Contest 6, 7 & 8 with EPICA)
 * (I)zola Jesus (Vitirese representative in the seventh edition)
 * Lee Lin Chin
 * Simone Simons (Valerian representative in the Maia Song Contest 6, 7 & 8 with EPICA)
 * (I)zola Jesus (Vitirese representative in the seventh edition)
 * Lee Lin Chin

Remarks of Harrinian commentator
During Harrinia's broadcast of both the first and second semi final, the country's commentator, Harrine Bravin Grybb, made several remarks that caused controversy. During the first semi final, she pretended to fall asleep during the performance of Leodia's Dodie Clark and also claimed that Rraegvoerrgh's entry belonged in the Worst Song Contest instead. During the second semi final, she had much more to say. She called Bjornska's Leah McFall "ugly as hell" and later claimed that Suelta needed to learn what good music is. Finally, she commented on the performance of Lussantia's Eleni Foureri, pointing out that the dancers were out of sync and claimed they were unprofessional.

International voting malfunctions
During the transmission of the first semi-final, the broadcast was cut short and the lines to vote were not opened in Tayo Nohito the United States of Talados, nullifying the countries' possibilities to qualify. Further controversy came when it emerged that US Talados would potentially have won the semi-final if votes could have been delivered, leading to accusations of 'MBU rigging' from Taladosian social media users. Additionally, a similar error occurred when televoters in Fronezenchya were unable to cast their votes due to the phone lines malfunctioning, which led to the country not being able to deliver any points.

The MBU Council issued a formal apology to all viewers from the aforementioned countries as well as the participating broadcasters, adding that they would launch an investigation into the matter and make organisational changes if required.

Otaku Republic Live Viewing riots
The live viewings of the Maia Song Contest in 3 separate areas of the country ended in chaos as the fans caused a riot after the results. This happen after fans found out that VENIOR could no longer win. The fans protested the results and sparked a riot which resulted in 41 dead and more than 1000 were injured. After the riot, the speaker of the Otaku Republic parliament, Lelouch Lamperouge, offered a 5 day mourning for the victims and called the riot "a disrespect to the entire country". President Hatsune Miku stated that "Otaku Republic need to stop such behaviour and that the country has to accept the results."

Three-way tie for 5th place
The final vote received from the Zvorrhybnnian broadcaster caused a three-way tie for 5th place between Izola, Kashykia and Qualton on the scoreboard. The MBU looked closer into this to find that Kashykia would be awarded 5th place receiving more votes from juries than the other two countries. Qualton was awarded 6th place on the same premise, leaving Izola in 7th place with 128 points. After the results were announced to the Izol public, the Izol broadcaster IZT were pressured by the public to complain about a scoreboard error, where Izola would be awared 5th and Kashykia 7th on the premise that the entry had received more 12s from other juries, however it turns out that both the broadcaster and the public were unaware of the rules of the contest which clearly state that the most voted-for entry would receive the better placement in the event of a tie-break. The people were later outraged by this, as IZT had misinformed the public. People were seen chanting for BANKS to be awarded 5th and for Izola to auto-qualify again in the eleventh edition. The Qualtonese public remained quiet throughout the whole affair, though the broadcaster stated their disappointment at Qualton's second 6th place in the contest although pleased as it is their highest scoring entry.

Other countries
Eligibility for potential participation in the Maia Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active MBU membership that would be able to broadcast the contest. The MBU will issue an invitation of participation in the contest to all active members.

Active MBU countries

 * Glorimala was on the initial list of participants but failed to send an entry in time. As a result they withdrew from the contest with no official statement made from the national broadcaster.
 * Oxenryd's participation was uncertain as no information was given in regards to the country's continuation in the contest from their national broadcaster when all others had. It was confirmed on the 2nd of June that they were not on the final list of participating countries.
 * Metrocka was initially on the final list of participants for the 10th edition and had selected singer Max Barskih to represent them at the contest. However, they later withdrew due to deadline changes. A further announcement was made on 17 June 2017, the final day to announce an entry, that Metrocka would indeed be at the contest as they were no longer withdrawing.